Sometimes you come to a meeting with the expectation of influencing decisions, yet you sense that many members already decided how they'll vote, and have no interest in hearing what you or others have to say. What can you do if this occurs? Complaining after the meeting won't achieve anything. You need to intervene at the meeting and state your concerns about the integrity of the decision making process. You need to do this before the decision is made, and not later in the parking lot.

What can you say? Here is a sample intervention:

"Can I say something before we continue? I have a real concern about the integrity of our decision making process. Based on the interruptions and the way people are responding to what others are saying, I am sensing that some of us have already decided how to vote on this proposal. If that's the case, I wonder why we even need to have a meeting, and what's the sense of spending any more time on this issue? I think we owe it to our constituents and to the organization to come to meetings with open minds, ready to advocate our views, but also ready to listen with a commitment to learn."